Sinful Cinnamon Rolls

A few years ago while helping run a neighborhood yard sale, a woman made cinnamon rolls to sell. They were absolutely delicious. She was kind enough to email me a copy of the recipe. I made a few small changes and it's been a family favorite ever since.

Cinnamon Rolls

ROLLS
1 1/4 oz. dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt eggs, and flour. Mix well. Once dough is mixed, knead dough into large ball using your hands dusted with flour. Put in bowl, cover, let rise in a warm place about an hour, or until dough has doubled in size. *** What works best for me is making the dough at night, refrigerating, and then taking the dough out a few hours before you plan on baking them. Roll dough onto lightly floured surface, into a rectangular shape, until it is about 1/4 in. thick.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 Tbp. cinnamon

For filling, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread softened butter evenly over surface of dough, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar evenly over surface. Working carefully from top, roll dough down to bottom edge (roll so that the roll is long and thin, rather than short and very thick). Cut rolled dough into 1 1/2 in. slices and place on a greased baking pan, evenly spaced (leave a few inches between each roll). Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until light brown on top.

ICING
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup powered sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbp. whipping cream

*** Original recipe called for 1 stick butter and 1/4 cup cream cheese. I prefer it with more cream cheese and less butter. I also added the whipping cream. I like the texture and also the creamy taste. It is optional.

While rolls cook, combine icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. When rolls cool slightly, coat each generously with icing. Makes 12 rolls.